Sheet metal floor



Dec. 31, 193s. F. R, H [GLEY 2,026,278

SHEET METAL FLOOR x Filed Nov. 6, 1953 INVENTOR FIG. -3 FRANK R. HIGLEY Patented Dec. ,31, 1935 PATENT FFICE SHEET METAL FLOOR Frank R. Higley, Cleveland Heights, Ohio, assignor to Insulated Steel Construction Company, Cleveland, Ohio, a corporation of Chio Application November 6, 1933, Serial No. 696,753

4 Claims.

This invention relates to metal building panels adapted for employment in floors, roofs, or otherwise disposed generally in horizontal planes as vdistinguished from vertical or wall planes. The 5 invention contemplates the assembly of such a floor panel from sheet metal units bent to such sectional characteristics and so related that when the assembly is completed it will have the sectional characteristic of a continuous repeated l0 box section.

A particular object of the invention is to provide such a sectional characteristicwherein the upper or flooring panel-has greater thickness and consequently greater strength than the lower or ceiling panel, so that the iioor panel as a whole will have greater strength for its weight and thickness than it would otherwise have. A further and coextensive object is to provide such characteristics from units which in themselves may have uni-form thickness and are adapted for convenient assembly and securement therein to form the oor. 'I'he general objects are to accomplish these ends in the most inexpensive and simple manner.

The exact nature of this invention together with further objects and advantages thereof will be apparent from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings which are all perspective views of the end edge portions of the parts which they represent, Fig. 1 showing a completed oor section, Fig. 2 being an enlarged detail of a typical part thereof, and Fig. 3 being a further enlarged showing of one of the characteristic units employed.

With reference now to the drawing and rst to Fig. 3 thereof, a typical unit is shown. 'Ihe unit comprises a strip of sheet metal which may be of uniform thickness as indicated, rectangularly bent along two parallel longitudinal lines as at I and 2 to form three longitudinally extending members including an intermediate member 3-extending between and joining a pair of parallel laterally extending members 4 and 5. The unit thus has a section which may be considered as of Z characteristic.

'I'he bends I and 2 are so located that the 'intermediate member 3 is narrower than either of the members 4 and 5, and that one of these outer members, as 4, is substantially narrower than the other, 5. Preferably the wider member 5 has nearly twice the width of the narrower member 4, as will appear.

The floor panel is made up principally of an assembly of a plurality of such units, each disposed 'with its Wider member 5 uppermost, as shown in mediate members 3c and 3d of thenext adjacent 10 units C and D on the corresponding side, overlying the upper member 5c of the C unit and terminating slightly beyond the intermediate member 3d of the D unit. The member 4a of the A unit extends in` the opposite direction, slightly beyond 15' the intermediate 3b of the B unit, Where it under lies the lower member tb of the B unit. The member da of the A unit overlies the edge part of the member 4c of the C unit.

A similar relation obtains for all oi the typical 20 units, as will be obvious from Fig. 2.

Thus the upper wider member 5 of each unit in part overlies the corresponding parts of the next two adjacent units in one direction (right, Fig. 2), and underlies the corresponding parts 25 of the next two adjacent units in the opposite direction (left, Fig. 2). Y

The characteristics of the typical section shown in Fig. 2 will be observed as a continuous repeated box section wherein the vertical members 3 of the 30 units constitute web elements extending between an upper or oorlng panel and a lower or ceiling panel.

The lower or ceiling panel is composed of the narrower members 4 of the units disposed in 35 shingled relation with but slight overlap so that its mean thickness is but slightly greater than that of the member 4 of one unit.

Similarly the upper or flooring panel is` composed of the Wider members 5 of the units -dis 40 posed in shingled relation with great overlap so that its mean thickness is slightly greater than twice that of the member 5 of one unit.

In both flooring and ceiling panels the members are secured together adjacent the web ele- 45 ments 3, where they overlap, preferably by welding, as indicated at 6, at intervals spaced longitudinally of the units. In the upper or flooring panel each welded connection will be noted as including three elements, Vone between two others. 5o

It will be observed that the characteristics of the typical floor section thus formed, are an upper lpanel of substantially twice the mean thickness of the lower panel. Thus the neutral axis of v the section as a whole will lie closely adjacent 55 the upper or flooring panel part thereof, so that the structure will have greater strength for its Weight and for its thickness, than would otherwise be the case. It will be further observed that at the same time the iiooring panel will present an external surface substantially smooth, with variant only to the extent of the thickness of a single upper member 5.

At its lateral edges a floor assembly of typical units may be :finished oi as indicated in Fig. 1.

At the right side edge a pair of special units Y and Z are employed.v The Y unit is comparable with the typical units A to D. It has an intermediate or web member 3y, a lower or ceiling panel member 4g, these parts being dimensioned as in the typical units. It has an upper or flooring member 5y of width substantially equal to its member Iy, to be disposed coextensive with the extreme edge of the member 5d of the last typical unit D. f

The other special unit Zpfor this side edge of the ,assembly isgenerally of L section including a ceiling panel 4a, a web member 3a and a lip 5a.

At the opposite side edge of the assembly, also, two special units are employed. One of these units Z is identical with the special unit Z but is disposed the other side up, as indicated. 'I'he other special unit X is simply a flat strip of width approximately that of the member 5 of the typical unit, to be disposed as shown.

These special units are welded in the assembly Where their parts overlie those of the typical units as will be apparent. Preferably the parts are so proportioned and arranged that at each side edge of the assembly a lip will be provided as at 1, in the upper or ooring panel on one side and as at 8 in the lower or ceiling panel on the opposite side. These lips 'l and 8 are for the purpose of providing connection with adjacent similar assemblies. Obviously by suitable proportioring and arrangement of the parts they may be omitted if not desired.

What I claim is:

l. In a floor panel of the class described, a plu-l rality of similar units, each unit comprising a length of sheet metal bent in opposite directions along parallel longitudinal lines to form three members each disposed in a separate plane, the outer members being parallel and one of width substantiallyv twice that of the other, saidunits being assembled with the free edge portion of the narrower parallel member of one unit 1overlapping the next adjacent unit in one direction, at the intermediate member of the latter, and with the free edge portion of its wider parallel member extending beyond the intermediate member of the next adjacent unit in the opposite direction, and overlapping the second adjacent unit in said opposite direction, at the intermediate member of the latter.

2. A plurality of similar units in a floor panel I assembly, each unit having a section of Z characteristic with substantially rectangular bends be- 5 tween its members, the units being disposed with their outer members in shingling relation, each unit having one of its outer members substantially wider than its other outer member and each unit being disposed with its wider outer member uppermost, whereby the assembly provides a floor panel having the characteristic of a continuous repeated box section, the intermediate members of the units comprising Webs vertically extending between spaced flooring and ceiling panels, 15 said ilooring panel having agreater mean thickness than said ceiling panel by virtue of the greater width of the said members disposed in the flooring panel.

3. A plurality of similar units in a oor panel Q9 assembly, each unit having a section of Z characteristic with substantially rectangular bends between its members, the units being disposed with their outer members in shingling relation, each unit having one of its outer members substang5 tially twicewider than its other outer member and each unit being disposed with its wider outer member uppermost, whereby the assembly provides a iioor panel having the characteristic of a continuous repeated boxsection, the intermediate 30 members of the units comprising webs vertically extending between spaced ilooring and ceiling panels, in the flooring panel the overlap of said shingling members providing a minimum of two thicknesses thereof and in the ceiling panel the ,-5 overlap of said shingling members therein providing maximum of two thicknesses thereof.

4. A plurality of similar units in a iloor panel assembly, reach unit having a section of Z characteristic with substantially rectangular bends betweenits members, the units being disposed with their outer members in shingling relation, each unit having one of its outer members substantially twice wider than its other outer member and each unit being disposed with its wider outer 

